Northern Lights Community School

Schools in the Northern Lights Community School district consist of a single school: Northern Lights Community School, a high school serving grades 6–12 with 91 students. Located at 305 Bridge St in Warba, MN, it is the area's only school, so there are no elementary, middle, or alternative schools to compare it against, and district figures mirror the school's own numbers.

Outcomes at the school are substantially below Minnesota averages. Its graduation rate is 53.8%, compared with 84.9% statewide, and its dropout rate is 23.0% versus 4.2% statewide. All reported all-grade test scores trail the state: 16.7% math, 22.9% reading, and 10.3% science in 2025–2026, against state values of 44.9%, 48.6%, and 25.5%. In 2024–2025, math proficiency was 9.09% compared with 45.21% statewide. Its rank history shows 0 stars in each reported year, with percentiles of 9 (2021–2022), 2 (2023–2024), and 8 (2025–2026), placing it in the bottom decile.

There is one clear bright spot: 8th grade science proficiency is 25%, above the state's 16.7%. The school also has a low student-teacher ratio of 9.4 and a high free/reduced-price lunch percentage of 71.43%. Several results are suppressed by the state — math for grades 6, 7, and 11 and reading for grades 6 and 7 — so those are unknown rather than zero. With only 91 students across grades 6–12, a single student can shift a grade-level percentage, so year-to-year changes should be read cautiously.